Chapter 408
by RaMa
Summary: So? Where did they run to on that last panel? Yet another take on what happened after the last chapter of the Manga.


**Chapter 408**

A Ranma ½ FanFiction by R. Martin

Disclaimer: There is no spoon! And I do not hold any rights on the franchise I'm infringing on. I hope Mrs. Takahashi will be lenient if she ever finds out what I did.

* * *

The couple ran.

Side by side and with their arms trailing behind them as if they were sprinters breaking through the finishing line.

Behind them lay the debris of a botched wedding that had gone up in flames as well as the promise of a reprise from further such attempts.

Ahead of them their school awaited and by proxy something akin to a normal life.

Along the old channel they ran and past the house of the old lady that had managed so many times to change the couple into a pair of girls with a flick of her wrist. Today was no such occasion and maybe that in itself was a good omen.

They ran past the clinic where more than once hot water had been an equally hot commodity.

And finally they reached the gate to their school.

Both of them knew without a doubt that once they entered these grounds of learning there would be questionnaires, tests and quizzes. And not all of them of the graded kind.

They had run the whole way without uttering a word, and even now they did not need spoken language to come to an accord.

All it took was a joining of hands.

…

"They are coming!"

The shout of the lookout by the gates rang across the dim of multiple discussions and monologues in the schoolyard.

Suddenly there was silence as everyone turned their attention towards the gate, students and teachers alike.

"They are here!"

The outlook's second shout had been a little uncalled for. Everyone could clearly see the two telltale silhouettes appearing at a high speed in the breach that the gate represented in between the walls surrounding the school property.

The lookout's last shout pretty much summed up everyone's confusion about what they witnessed in the next moment.

"They are… gone again?!"

…

"Where are we running too?"

Akane's question was justified but that made finding a correct answer not any easier.

"I don't have the slightest idea."

Ranma's answer was as truthful as he'd ever given one. Because he did have no clue as to where he wanted to go but the very definite urge that he did not want to go _there_. In this case _there_ equaled to a school full of noisy people that demanded answers to questions he had no real answers for. Well, at least none he'd tell those people. Not as long as he was still a bit shy to answer them for himself.

Actually it was kind of surprising that he was feeling as good as he did at the moment. Considering the fact that he and the girl by his side just dodged the bullet of holy matrimony one day past. You wouldn't expect them to go running through the streets like grade-schoolers on a sugar rush the next chance they got. But such was life if you happened to hang around one Akane Tendo for too long.

And with the exception of his dad there was no person in the world Ranma had spent more time with. Only that Ranma was actually enjoying this time together. That was something clearly distinguishing Akane Tendo from the likes of Genma Saotome. But definitely not the only one. For example, if that girl put scrapes and black eyes on him, sometimes for more justified reasons than others, at least afterwards she also put a Band-Aid on him. That was something his father had yet to learn. Though what were the chances that he ever would?

Lost in those thoughts Ranma almost missed his cue when Akane squeezed his hand and started to pull him along.

"I think I know just the place! Come on!"

…

Akane basically dragged Ranma through the streets and alleys of the residential area surrounding the school. They ended up in front of a narrow flight of stairs running up a forested slope.

"Ah, this takes me back," Akane exclaimed as she started the ascent, still holding Ranma's hand in a tight grip. "I used to come here a lot when I was younger."

As they continued up the slope, Akane smiled back over her shoulder.

"This stairs used to go all the way to the 15th block in the second Chome. (*) But when they build a car park and somehow forgot to make an exit down the slope. So these days, if you go up all the way you run straight into a wall. So hardly anyone comes this way ever since."

"So that's what you want to show me?" Ranma asked, more amused by Akane's obvious excitement than he was scandalized by the prospect of running into a dead-end. "Got to be some pretty interesting masonry up there."

"Naaah…!" the girl drawled in response, dragging him further into the unkempt wilderness beneath the trees along the abandoned path. Suddenly they emerged onto a small resting area with a bench and a view over the roofs below.

"There! See over there?" Akane asked as she dragged him to the railing that was supposed to protect pedestrians from the descending in a fast but dangerous manner. "There's our school! And over there's Doctor Tofu's clinic! Aaaaand… there! There's our house!"

Our house.

Ranma was pretty sure that there was no second meaning to Akane's words and still that combination of words spoken by that special girl send shivers down his spine.

Our house.

Like yours and mine? Like marriage and inheriting the dojo and come some faraway future with children running in the yard?

That kind of _our_ house?

Ranma knew that this kind of thinking was the perfect trigger for a couple of his family's secret techniques. Those from the male side and mostly centered on traversing vast distances in little time. As long as it was away from the point of origin.

But strangely enough the shivers down his spine did nothing to spur his feet into action. Not even to ram them into his own mouth. Another fine tradition of his education.

"Then that's got to be U-Chan's over there," Ranma pointed out, adding his own five cents to show that he had paid attention. Only to notice that this might not have been the most sensitive remark among the many to choose from.

Akane turned towards him with a bit of a pained smile on her face. Surprisingly enough it came without any further outburst or physical action. That didn't make it any less painful.

"Yeah, you're right," she simply commented. "That's U-chan's over there."

Now Ranma knew that his remark had been a bad choice, or at least a thoughtless one. And not for the first time in his life he prayed to whatever god was listening that they let him find the right words for once. Words that might make up for any idiotic remark or insult he spat out in the heat of the moment. And for once in his life it seemed a god had actually listened in on that prayer.

"I think I like _our_ house better though," Ranma proclaimed in a sudden moment of inspiration.

The mesmerizing smile he received in turn for those few words simply had to be prove that some sort of divine being was partaking in this exchange.

(* Don't ask. the Japanese have some really weird system when it comes to subdividing their cities. Street names? Who needs those?)

…

Leaning against the railing, Akane let her eyes wander across the roofs of the town beneath her.

"You know, after the death of my mom I used to come here a lot," she explained to the boy currently lounging on the derelict bench behind her. "Hardly anyone bothers to come up here so it was the perfect spot if I wanted to get away from home for a few hours. Sometimes I would pretend that this was my dojo and I'd fight the greatest battles against the strongest adversaries. Of course I beat them all into submission."

As she spoke those words Akane turned her head as if expecting a comment from her companion. Probably something involving clumsy tomboys and their average chance of hitting the broad side of a barn with a sledgehammer. Never mind a mobile opponent moving at a faster pace than a glacier. Surprising enough but none of those things were mentioned. Because Ranma seemed determined not to waste his lucky streak by doing something stupid. Like actually opening his mouth for example. This suited Akane just fine for the moment.

"At other times I'd pretend to be a princess standing on the balcony of her palace. But not some sissy Disney princess. This would be my base of operations, but not my golden cage," she declared grandly as she turned her attention back to the scenery below. "Down there was my kingdom waiting for my guidance and past the horizon adventure awaited. There would be princes vying for my hand, dragons waiting to be slain and treasures to be found. I'd have excitement by day but I'd always be home in time for dinner still. After all how far away could those exotic land be, right?"

Once more Akane turned around to give Ranma a chance to add a few choice words of a more or less insulting nature. But he still just sat on the bench. One of his legs was all stretched out, the other one pulled close with the foot resting on his seat. Both of his arms spread wide along the back rest. If you didn't know him you might get the impression that he was completely at ease. But Akane knew him too well to be fooled by outward appearances. Laid back as he appeared like that he could still spring into action in the matter of a heartbeat.

"So, where they anything like you imagined? The adventures we had till now?" Ranma asked, sounding unusually cautious in his phrasing. Akane couldn't help but smile. You had to appreciate his effort after all.

"How is all the imagination of a little girl supposed to hold up to spending even one week with you?" She asked him in a good-natured manner. But just as quickly her expression turned into something sober. Akane sighed, and suddenly the ground at her feet seemed to hold her utmost interest.

"Hey Ranma..?" she asked, clearing her throat before continuing. "Can I ask you something? I promise it has nothing to do with the wedding. Or with whatever I did or did not hear..."

_Whatever I did or did not hear._

The importance of this remark was not lost on Ranma. For obvious reasons he had been a bit nervous when exactly that topic would come up again. Akane wouldn't simply forget about that. Of this he had been sure. So maybe it surprised him a little bit that she chose not to bring it up on her own volition. Then again, if that was not what made her act this bashful, then what else was there? Well, there was one obvious way to find out.

"Yeah sure, ask away," he told her in an attempt to sound nonchalant. He was sure that he failed miserably at that, but he wasn't here to play poker. So there was no harm done.

Nodding in compliance with Ranma's consent, Akane bit her lips and looked at him rather sheepishly.

"I noticed that lately you check up on me every night before you go to bed. Ever since _that_ day. And it made me wonder. Why do you never… you know… come in?"

The first part of the question had been delivered in an even voice for the most part. But the part at the end had almost dropped to a whisper. That didn't make it any easier for Ranma to comprehend what the inquiry was about. Then again, Akane could have screamed those words and he still would have been at a loss for a proper reply.

"Why I never..?" Ranma heard his mouth go into auto-play and it took quite some effort on his part to reign it in before it spilled out something stupidly wrong. Or something terrifyingly right.

"Wow… so you noticed, huh?" he finally remarked a little sheepishly as he regained a little more control over his linguistic functions. "Thought you were asleep at the time."

"What made you think that I was?"

"Nobody called me a pervert and my head didn't hurt?"

The exchange was surprisingly quick compared to the speed of the conversation before. Luckily enough there was no hint of malice in either one's voice and so no one's temper flared. At least not more than necessary.

"Oh..." slipped from Akane's lips as she continued to inspect her feet. She looked a little pained and not at all happy. Ranma honestly would have preferred her getting mad on any other occasion. Just not today. Somehow he knew that this was not the right moment for strategically placed insults.

"Listen, there was simply no reason to wake youup," he hastily explained instead. "I just wanted to check that… well, you know… that no one tried to abduct you or assault you or something like that. That's all, honest!"

For the first time since the question was lanced Akane looked him directly in the eyes. Her expression was serious, but at least no longer as troubled as before. That was good, right?

"Did you come to check if I was still breathing too?"

For Akane's part this question was a shot in the dark, mainly based on inspiration and a lingering feeling between her and her fiancé that they hadn't properly talked about ever since their return home.

To Ranma that question was like a shower of cold water, only without the gender change. It probably showed on his face but it definitely showed in his posture turning rigid. Still he kept up the eye contact with Akane, staying silent until the gears in his brain had turned into the right position for a fitting answer.

"I'm not sure about that," he finally admitted as honestly as possible. "All I know is that I got problems falling asleep if I don't check on you first."

Akane didn't stare at Ranma, but her expression wasn't too far off from that either. She knew that this was a pretty big concession coming from a guy that was unlikely to admit the slightest form of weakness or personal attachment. Actually, apart from what she _thought_ she heard him say back then, this was the first time he admitted her importance to his own well-being. If you thought about it, it even topped his shouts of '_Akane is my fiancée!_' that happened on various occasions. After all that had been more a declaration of status than anything else. But this! This was of a whole different caliber!

Emboldened by that line of thinking, Akane decided to come clear with her true reason for asking her question in the first place.

"My mom used to do this too, you know?" she began her explanation. "Every evening she'd make her rounds. First she'd visit Kasumi's room. After that she'd go to Nabiki's and lastly it was my turn to get tucked in. I tried to stay awake until she showed up each night. That is, until she didn't anymore..."

Akane bit her lips. Because the old memory threatened to flood her eyes due to that old pain resurfacing. But it did not stop her from continuing.

"It's baffling that I was able to bury those memories until the moment when you stood in my door. That was back in the guide's hut, on the night after you saved me from Saffron. I was half asleep and for some reason I thought you were mom coming to make her rounds. Don't ask me where that thought came from. You don't look nothing like her. Not even as a girl. It's just… I don't know... For a moment I kind of hoped you'd come in and…"

Courage only reaches so far and there were some things that Akane could hardly admit to herself. The admittance so far had already eaten away at her bravado and admitting anything more suddenly seemed an impossible hurdle.

"...wish me good night or something like that?" she finished more timidly than she had hoped to sound. But Ranma wasn't fooled by this. He was far from comprehending the nature of girls and especially the one in front of him was an enigma more times than not. But where his logic failed him he still had the finely tuned senses of a martial-artist. And he knew an opening when it showed itself.

"What? So you stayed awake all evening so you could _hear_ you mom coming in and just _say_ good night? Seriously?" he asked with disbelieve clearly written on his face. "I'm not exactly an expert how normal mom's treat their kids but somehow that doesn't sound how it's supposed to be."

"Oh? And how is it supposed to be?" Akane shot back. As challenging as she sounded, for someone as close to her as Ranma it was obvious that she was more bark than fighting spirit.

"Well, as far as I _heard, _moms are supposed to tuck their kids in at night. _Then_ they tell them good night and then..."

Suddenly Ranma's eyes grew wide as saucers. The revelation how mothers supposedly expressed their love for their kids in conjunction with Akane's expectation of him easily blew a fuse or two in his brain. Was she really anticipating him to act in that way?

For her part Akane saw the lights coming on between Ranma's ears. For obvious reasons she saw a need to practice the Saotome secret technique right there and then.

"Ah… don't you think we should head back? If we hurry we should make it in time for the next class. Come on..."

Not waiting for an answer from her still shell-shocked companion she grabbed her schoolbag and started running back the way they had come. She didn't make it very far though because the path meandered right back beneath the resting area. It didn't present much of a challenge for Ranma to block her path by coming down on the most direct route.

"_What_ did you want me to do?" he demanded with a feverish expression and no intention of letting her get away before he had his answer.

"Come on Ranma! We're in enough trouble already," Akane pleaded in a desperate voice. Her eyes were large and filled with the first signs of a bawl worth of her father.

"_WHAT_ did you want me to do?" Ranma repeated with even more intensely than before. He knew he was on to something big and no one would keep him away from that. He wasn't entirely sure why he didn't want to be kept away but the urgency of the whole thing seemed real enough for him to stop worrying about the small stuff.

"Ranma…" Akane whined, biting her lips and looking very much like a cornered animal. "Can't we do this another time..?"

Under any other circumstances Ranma would have caved in on the spot. Akane looking weak and afraid would usually fire up either his protective side or full panic mode. But not today it seemed. The stakes where simply too high for letting anything get in his way.

"_What did you want, Akane_?"

The question hang in the air as if suspended there by Akane's reluctance to give an answer and Ranma's desperate need to get one.

It seemed that Ranma's dogged insistence won out as Akane sighed in defeat and leaned her head back, her eyes fixing on the railing above where she had leaned only minutes before.

"Can you give me a moment?" she asked in a resigned voice. "I can't… Not like this..."

With that she turned around and began climbing the path once more, albeit at a more sedated pace.

"Where you're going?" Ranma demanded, setting out to follow behind her. But Akane turned around, stopping him with a weak, melancholic smile.

"I'll be right back. But could you please wait here?" she asked of him. There was something in her expression that made it impossible for Ranma to argue that demand. So he simply nodded in consent. He watched her though until she was out of sight and then he directed his attention to the railing above where he expected her to show up again. On that aspect she didn't disappoint him, but in a different way than he had anticipated. Because suddenly she appeared _on_ the railing instead of _behind_ it. With her skirt swaying in the breeze and giving the audience below a nice show of her underwear. But before he could point out her most likely unintended exposure she diverted his attention by addressing him.

"Ranma? You know that I trust you, don't you?"

Before he could answer that question he saw her close her eyes and topple forward, only slightly pushing her feet against the railing to clear away from the slope.

With his mind going into overdrive Ranma wondered if he should simply let her fall. She hadn't jumped from a height that would prove fatal after all. Maybe a couple of scrapes and bruises but nothing that a tough girl like her couldn't simply walk away from. That would teach her to give him a scare like that.

But those deliberations happened to be moot for the simple reason that he was already high in the air and grabbing Akane's limp body even before that train of thought had passed him by. His trajectory brought him close to the slope where he pushed off again to effortlessly touch down in the spot where he had started.

Once safely back on solid ground Ranma was of a mind to scold the girl in his arms for being stupid and unreasonable and for generally making as much sense as a certain kendoist. But he never got the chance as Akane began talking in a quiet voice right next to his ear. Maybe it was the way her breath caressed his skin or the intensity of her tone or the simple fact that her body was soft and warm and pressing against him. But complaining was suddenly the least important thing on his mind.

"I want… I want you to hold me like this. Even if I'm not falling or hurt or half dead. And I… I want you to come in… before you go to bed… and… tuck me in and..."

"And?" Ranma asked with unusual gentleness, his eyes closed as his attention was occupied by all his other senses.

"Kiss me good night..."

There!

There it was!

Complete exposure.

For good or for bad, everything now hinged on Ranma's response. Almost too afraid to witness his expression (a victorious smirk easily came to mind) but unable not to peek, Akane raised her head from where it had rested to face the music and the guy holding her.

To her surprise there was no smirk. There was no joking remark. Instead there was a light frown on his face over half lidded eyes and contorted lips as if he was chewing on parts of them.

"Okay," he simply exclaimed after a moment. "Anything else?"

"Maybe later," Akane uttered as her head sank back to its prior resting place. It was astounding how sleepy one could end up once the initial adrenaline wore off.

…

She was feeling warm and cozy and all in all at peace with the world. Cuddling a little closer to her source of comfort Akane practically purred as she rubbed her cheek against her musk scented pillow. It didn't cross her awakening mind that musk was not exactly the scent of Kasumi's favorite detergent. Nor that her covers usually happened to be less talkative.

"Man, that botched up wedding really did a number on you, huh?" she heard from right atop her head. Slightly left from the spot where gentle fingers idly played with strands of her hair. Not one of these things alarmed her at that moment. If anything it only made her purr a little louder.

"Come on girl. If we wanna make it back in time for lunch break then you got to get up and moving. Or do you want me to carry you to school?"

Now that thought brought a smile to Akane's lips even in her semi-conscious state.

"Or maybe I should rather kiss you good night?"

Bing!

Instant wake state.

"What?!"

As Akane's head shot up there was a restraint in form of Ranma's hand that kept her from breaking his jaw.

"Gee, I knew you are a violent sleeper. Never figured you'd be violent at waking up too."

Slightly disoriented and so rudely woken up, Akane glared at the guy in whose lap she found herself resting. Ranma in turn was back sitting on the old bench where he had lounged before, obviously not all too impressed by the change in her mood.

"So, now that you're awake and all, thought of anything new to add to your wish list? Who knows, maybe I'm feeling generous today."

He said this with such a cute grin on his face that Akane had trouble keeping her glare going. And once she noticed that he actually still had an arm around her even though she was in no obvious danger, and that she was actually resting in his lap, that glare completely passed its expiration date.

"Well, now that you mention it," she said in what she hoped sounded suggestive. "I actually might have thought of something."

"Oh yeah? So shoot. What else do you have in mind?"

"That is gonna have to wait," Akane declared as she disentangle herself and stood up. But not before raising a hand and gently caressing his cheek in passing. "Maybe tonight. If you actually manage to pull off that other thing I asked of you."

…

They actually made it back to school for the class prior to lunch break. They knew that consequences would arise from the teachers lack of understanding when it came to unexcused absence from school. But the more immediate threat came in the form of all those classmates and fellow students all over school burning for answers to the most pressing of questions.

Did or did not Ranma Saotome and Akane Tendo happen to be an item?

The fact that a wedding had been arranged no longer fazed anyone at Furinkan High. But the rumor that both of them had agreed to it out of their own free will after some mysterious adventure in far off China had the rumor mill up and running at max speed.

The fact that some of the usual rivals of such a union, namely Tatewaki Kuno and Ukyou Kuonji, seemed to have called out DefCon-1 only added fuel to the fire. So everyone and their dog were on the hunt for those two as soon as the lunch bell rang. Only one of them had a chance to catch them though. And that was the aforementioned Ukyou Kuonji.

Burning for answers that girl had sat through 3 excruciating hours in hope that the elusive pair would show up for class. And when they finally did she had to wait through another lesson for her chance. Only to find that Ranma had grabbed Akane and their bentos and jumped straight out of the window before their classmates could lay siege to them. A jump out of the window was obviously something that cut off all pursuit by the average students. But Ukyou didn't count among those. She was a martial-artist that could keep up with the best of them. And so she kept up with a fleeing Ranma too.

There's an old saying. It goes something along the lines of 'Watch out what you hunt for. You might catch it.' Ukyou found out the wisdom of these words the hard way as she caught up with her prey in a small park next to the school. They sat beneath a tree a little bit away from the path, checking those bentos and bartering for morsels when she approached them.

Ranma was the first to notice her closing in on them. As soon as he recognized her an expression of surprised flashed across his face before his features settled into a smile.

"Yo! U-Chan! Come to join us?" he called out.

That drew Akane's attention to the newcomer and just like with her companion, something flashed across her features before they settled on a smile. Though it was hard to tell in her case if it was only surprise showing there.

Ukyou wasn't too sure how to react to the nonchalant greeting. Only a day ago those two had been dressed to the nines in a tuxedo and a wedding dress respectively and the Okonomiyaki chef had done her best to stop them from entering holy matrimony by throwing food shaped bombs at them. Sure, from her own point of view it had been as much of a rescue mission as it had been a desperate act of retaliation. But no matter what the reasoning behind her action had been, you'd expect a bit of a stronger reaction than 'Yo! U-Chan!'and a smile. Especial in the case of someone with as potentially volatile a personality as Akane Tendo.

"Don't you dare to 'U-Chan' me, Ranma!" the young chef replied. She tried to sound venomous but for some reason all she could muster was a bitter growl. "First you run off to China. Then Akane runs after you. And the moment you both finally return I get a freaking wedding invitation! I think I'm due to a little explanation here, don't you think?"

There's one thing you can always count on when dealing with Ranma Saotome. If you corner him with anything similar to an accusation, an insult or a challenge he'll answer you with the first thing that came to mind. And what usually came to his mind would be a lame excuse or an even greater insult then the one given. And in nine out of ten times he'd probably regret what he said at a later point. This wasn't because Ranma happened to be an exceptionally cruel person. He simply had been conditioned that way by his stupid, no-good father.

What Ranma would not do in such a situation, and that was an absolute, was to think first before he responded. So seeing him exchange a glance with Akane first before responding to her was therefore enough to give Ukyou pause.

"Come on U-Chan! You don't believe that this whole wedding fiasko was our idea, do you?" Ranma demanded as his attention returned to his old friend. "That was just our dads going nuts again. As if we'd really want to get married while we're still in school."

"Would you just listen to yourself?! You sound as if you actually want to marry her!"

That had come out a lot more panicked than Ukyou would have liked. It should have been an accusation. And she herself should have been shaking with rage and not with… whatever it was. Fear or disillusionment or frustration. And why was Akane just sitting there. She should jump up and break that heavy mood with an accusation of unfaithfulness or some other claim grabbed from thin air. But she just sat there with a worried expression and a sad smile.

"Well, you know, it's not like we really ever talked about that yet," Ukyou only half heard Ranma explain. "Though if I gonna end up hitched one way or the other..."

"Shut up!"

Ukyou's scream echoed through the park like a gunshot. It made birds take off to the heavens and dogs that happened to walk nearby bark in sympathy or complain. People around them began staring in their direction. And Ranma was actually stopped from finishing his sentence.

Ukyou might be shocked and desperate and hopelessly in love, or something close to that in any way, but she had always been realist too. She and Akane had the same kind of claim on Ranma and since none of them would budge an inch it was only a matter of time until that tug-of-war would land one of them face first in the mud. It was just that Ukyou had always been convinced that she would be the good sportsman, or woman, that would reach out a hand for Akane to get back up.

Had there not been so many signs that she was leagues ahead of the Tendo girl when it came to Ranma's affections?

Had that all been an illusion?

Had her superior skill as a cook, a martial artist and a loving fiancée no merit in Ranma's eyes?

How come that he'd prefer a girl so unpredictable and accidentally lethal as Akane?

The answer was easy, really.

It was the same reason why the two of them could simply sit there and receive her like a friend one day after her explosive performance at the wedding. Both of them simply did not care for the small stuff. They happened either to be that big-hearted or that damn stupid to not bear a grudge because of one of their friend's overreactions. Or the weird stuff those two did to one another. Surely, they complained a lot about their relationship but when it came down to it, even that they did together.

Akane Tendo spend most of her time next to Ranma Saotome. Ukyou Kuonji did not. And this was not simply because of the sleeping arrangements. It was also because Ukyou had a business to run and a life to live that actually did not revolve around a single person alone. She wasn't so sure about Akane on that account. Even if she was positive that the girl would refute any such theories.

All this and more shot through Ukyou's mind during those few seconds of silence as she stood before her supposed future husband and his most probable bride to be. With her hands balled to fists and her body shaking like leaves she glared at the duo before her. It was a weak glare and it was hardly enough to hide the hurt she was experiencing.

"The next time we meet you better have talked about it," she pressed through clenched teeth. "I'm done with tagging along! So make up your damn mind once and for all! Idiot!"

And with that she turned on her heels and stormed out of the park as if pushed by the eyes on her back.

...

"This could have gone better."

"Or it could have gone a lot worse."

Ranma and Akane watched their friend leave and only faced one another when she had dropped from sight. They both wore pretty much the same mix of worry and elation on their faces. Akane's though changed to some kind of challenging smirk after a moment.

"So? '_If you're gonna get hitched anyway..._'? Really? Makes me sound like the lesser of two evils."

"Hey, that's not what I meant," Ranma protested weakly. "Besides, I believe that Ukyou would turn out to be a great wife."

"Yeah, guess she would," Akane agreed with the kind of calm demeanor that was only possible after a race has already been decided. "So seriously, how come she'd get second place compared to me?"

Ranma simply grunted in in reply. But Akane would have none of that and poked him in the ribs with her elbow, egging him on.

"You really want me to say it, huh?"

Ranma looked at her with a bit of a sour expression. He didn't especially enjoy getting cornered like this. But still he stood his ground. Or sat it in this case.

"You gotta be kidding!" Akane replied with half a laugh. "Of course I do! And don't you dare leave me hanging now!"

Ranma knew there was no getting out of this. So true, he could insult her and provoke a fight, making her forget about that question for the moment. But it would come up again anyway sooner or later. And somehow that whole insulting thing was getting kind of old anyway.

"For some stupid and completely weird reason, the only one I can imagine getting married to happens to be you," he admitted at last. "There! Happy?"

Akane looked at him in a peculiar way. As if she had expected another outcome to her teasing. But then one of her special and slightly lethal smiles appeared on her face.

"Yes," she simply replied. "Very, _very_ happy!"

...

Somehow the pair made it through the day at school. Even with all the nagging and questioning by their schoolmates and the repeated harassing by of one Tatewaki Kuno that could not accept the fact that neither of the two gave a rat's ass for his opinion concerning their relationship. In contrast to that, the life at home on their return was surprisingly mellow. Not one of their fathers tried anything funny and even Nabiki left them alone. It was a good thing too because there was a huge pile of homework waiting for them thanks to recent events. They did their fair share of eroding that mountain but when enough was enough they diverted their energies to a nice workout in the dojo. The rest of the evening was the usual fare. A trip to the furo, Kasumi's delicious dinner and some TV. Then it was time to call it a night. Tomorrow was a regular day at school after all.

…

At the end of the day Ranma found himself standing once again in front of a certain door. For all practical purposes this might as well be the gateway to the great beyond. Whether what lay behind it would prove to be heaven or hell was still up to discussions.

Not that it would make a whole lot of difference considering the person waiting inside. If he ended up spending his life alongside that girl then a fair mix of both was to be expected. For some weird reason that thought did nothing to stop his hand from turning the door knob.

"Yo! Tomboy! You still awake?" he half whispered as he slipped into the room.

"U-huh," came the grunted reply from the far end of the room amid a rustling of bedding.

Following the sound deeper into the room to where he knew from prior experience Akane's bed was located, Ranma experienced a strange sort of trepidation. It was a bit exciting to come here like this under invitation for once. With no stupid pig to worry about and hopefully no ensuing misunderstanding concerning his intentions for being here. Well, at least none coming from Akane. If their fathers or the sisters should spot him in here in the middle of the night…

'Oh my!' would hardly describe it.

Those thoughts, as interesting as they happened to be, were nothing but a distraction from the real challenge lying ahead. And this was not even a metaphor.

Ranma had this image in his mind. How a mother would seat herself at the edge of her child's bed with her hands pushing up the cover. After that she'd bend down and tussle the kid's hair and place a light kiss on its forehead while whispering 'good night'. He wasn't sure if that was an ancient memory or something he had picked up on TV. But he kind of liked that image. Though honestly, before today he had never imagined himself ending up in that line of work. But thanks to that image he had at least some semblance of an idea how to proceed here.

"So… brushed your teeth yet?" Ranma asked for a starter as he sat down on the edge of the bed. It might have been his imagination, but in the little light that came in through the window it almost appeared as if Akane looked a him with wide, incredulous eyes. The giggling coming from her was far easier to discern.

"U-Huh," he heard her repeat and even in the darkness it was easy to make out the bopping of her head as she nodded in agreement. Ranma in turn found himself unable to suppress a chuckle at her cute act.

"Hey, Akane? Before we do this, can I say something?" he asked as a certain memory popped up in his mind. As the girl in question once more nodded her consent he took a deep breath and braced himself for that kind of emotional honesty he wasn't really famous for.

"Listen, do you think we could go back to the day I first came here?" Ranma asked, speaking slowly and in an atypically cautious manner.

"Honestly? Like travel back in time?" Akane asked from beneath her covers. "You didn't plunder any weird treasures from Happosai again, did you?"

"What? Are you nuts?!" Ranma exclaimed, recoiling at the very thought. "I don't even know how we managed to make it this far the first time around. No way I'm going back and do it all over again! Beside," he added, sounding a little shy, "I kinda like how we ended up..."

Again Akane giggled from behind her cover before adding an equally she "Yeah, me too..."

There was a short moment of companionable silence between the pair.

Then Ranma continued to explain his train of thought

"So, what I was trying to say was… Remember when you asked me if I wanted to be friends? Never got around to answer that, did I?"

He waited for a moment for Akane to comment on that but when nothing came he carried on.

"Well, the point is… Yes! I wanted to be your friend. And I really needed to _have_ a friend. It's just that… it's kinda hard for a guy to just wanna stay friends the way you're smiling sometimes, you know?"

"No… No I didn't know," Akane admitted, her voice quiet and hard to read. "It's the first time you told me."

"Well, now you know," Ranma remarked as quietly. Then he simply grabbed the covers and pushed them a little firmer around Akane's shoulders. Lastly he bend down, hovering mere inches in front of her face. It was as scary as it was intoxicating to come face to face so intimately.

"Good night Akane," he mumbled almost absentmindedly, his full attention on another task that was as simple as it was near impossible. To place a kiss on her. But after a moment of hesitation his lips found their mark and his hand gently brushed along her hair.

"Good night Ranma," he heard her reply quietly but full of warmth. And she was right. It was a good night.

...

Ranma closed the door as quietly as possible as he left Akane's room.

He was feeling weird, not in a bad way but weird nonetheless. His heart was still hammering inside his throat and his knees had the consistency of jelly. That didn't keep him from smiling like a madman though. Weird, really.

Heading back to his room in this slightly intoxicated state he almost missed the sound of Akane's door being flung open and of feet approaching at a quickened pace. The fact that a whirlwind clad in pajamas suddenly pushed him against the wall was kind of hard to miss though.

With her forearms pinning down his shoulders and her hands fixed to the sides of his face, Akane forced Ranma to look straight at her.

"I don't want you _just_ as a friend either Rama," she told him with overwhelming intensity and a dangerous spark in her eyes. "And please, _please_… stop kissing me like my mom!"

And then she showed him how it was properly done. At least as far as her own experience allowed. Which wasn't actually that much.

When it came down to it this was simply two pairs of lips pressed together with the noses getting in the way and no idea on either side of the couple how to proceed any further.

One of them was stiff as a board, part from shock and part because of a reaction that was actually very healthy and not perverted at all.

The other one was a bit scared by her own daring and her body's reaction to that other body's reaction. Yes she had noticed and no, she preferred not to think about it.

Pushing herself off Ranma again, Akane wished him a good night for a final time and rushed back into her room where she jumped into her bed and did some pretty girlish things. Like rolling around with the cover drawn over her head while giggling like a nutcase.

Ranma simply leaned against the wall until all of him was limber once more. He was smiling. It was the type of smile that spoke of someone that for once looked forward for the things to come.

Like tomorrow night.

And the night after that.

And maybe, in the not so far future, the days too.

"Good night tomboy," Ranma whispered towards the door with the duck shaped nameplate. "See you tomorrow."

...

The end

Author's note: Sorry, stories like this happen when my proofreader takes to much time checking the other stuff I wrote. By the way, this is not the last chapter of some enormous epic. It's just that the Ranma ½ Manga (open-)ended with Chapter 407. So the next chapter would be… who can tell…? Anybody...? Yes, I know that it's cheesy. Still, I hope you enjoyed this. I know I did. ;-P


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